NetNotes
Our core poster was originally created in Powerpoint [not by me but I didn’t give the insurance company any money, and as soon as
I might add]. I had a go at converting it to InDesign CS3, but after an the contract was up, went to the microscope company for a contract.
hour or so I lost the will to live. Not helped by Adobe’s obtuse help. Where I am now we have company contracts and no hint of insurance
Adobe’s stuff is buggy as well on first release. With our Core poster, contracts, and I’d fight them pump and electron to avoid changing.
we only have to change the odd staff photo mainly, as predecessor’s Philip Oshel oshel1pe@cmich.edu Thu Apr 16
relocate to the Solyent Green factory. Plus, of course, all the images I’ve always had contracts, but my colleague at a nearby institution
are mostly stuck at 250x300 resolution anyway and our ppt file always was forced to go with insurance. They have an older TEM and at one
prints OK [so if it’s not broke…]. InDesign is much easier if you use it point needed a major repair that took over 2 weeks....charged hourly.
to create the poster from scratch. Having spent the last year wrestling The end result was a bill close to if not more than the vendor’s contract
with *Flash CS3’s incomprehensible help [often not even giving info would have been. They also have trouble getting their preventive
on the right program], it doesn’t make InDesign that attractive for very maintenance visits scheduled, since labs under contract do get priority.
occasional use - if you want to see how easy to use a DTP program can Lee Cohen-Gould lcgould@med.cornell.edu Thu Apr 16
be, try Serif ’s PagePlus X3, it makes Publisher look pants [well I suppose Don’t do this, you will be sorry. I serviced TEM/SEM tools first
Publisher is pants]. Trouble is the learning curve on Adobe software is working for Philips, then as an independent, servicing and moving all
so steep you really have to use it every day to become comfortable, not brands plus associated instruments and equipment. You may get lucky
once a year. Quark Express is no better in terms of intuitive use either. for a while and save some money, until a major problem happens,
I did get to grips with GoLive, then Adobe killed it off after buying such as a defective HT tank for example. Insurance will try to locate
MacroMedia. I use Illustrator occasionally, but mostly it’s Photoshop, a used one, or an independent service provider who will repair it. I
Flash, Acrobat Pro, Dreamweaver, and PhotoShop [again & again]. I did that. But insurance is unlikely to pay tens of thousands of $$ when
know Photoshop so well now I have fooled myself into thinking it’s easy all else fails. There is no miracle. This kind of insurance does not have
to use. Besides it’s Mat Lab and Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 that are enough of a base to be a reliable one, even if they try hard, this will
on my to-do list for this month - plus of course Microsoft’s ‘intuitive’ be mathematically impossible in the end. It is difficult enough for an
new ribbon interface [I have kept Office 2003 installed with Office 2007 OEM to make service and support business profitable while dealing
- easy to do, with a few modifications]. That said Adobe on-line video directly with end users. How can you add a middleman in-between and
help is very useful [but it’s only available for the latest products]. Try: expect profit? Please don’t do this. If life comes to the point when your
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/?id=vid0118 employer can’t afford an OEM or a 3rd party contract - do you own
Adobe Video Workshop. Plus we have our local OUCS courses, and PMs and pay directly to service providers when their help needed. And
there’s Amazon for a selection of books. Keith J. Morris kjmorris@well. keep your fingers crossed that nothing major will go. It sounds scary,
ox.ac.uk Wed Apr 22 but works better than insurance based service. Common sense versus
peace of mind. Vitaly Feingold vitalylazar@att.net Fri Apr 17
EM:
insurance-based contracts
TEM:
It looks like we are pushed (gently, for now) to consider possibility books related to materials
of switching our service contracts to insurance-based contracts. So, now I We have traditionally been a Life Sciences Imaging core facility on
am very interested in opinions on this type of servicing microscopes: SEM campus (SEM, TEM, STEM, confocal, fluorescence, etc.), but we are
and TEM. Vladimir M. Dusevich dusevichv@umkc.edu Thu Apr 16 finding ourselves leaning more towards the material sciences. As such, we
Push back----and don’t be gentle. We tried this a number of years would like to augment our Center’s reference library with books relating
ago, and it was a disaster. It once took us nine months to schedule to the imaging and analytical side of microscopy. I was wondering if I
preventive maintenance, since an insurance provider wasn’t paying could get ideas on basic book requirements that material scientists would
its bills and the service provider understandably went on strike. look at as basic references and might be considered indispensable in a
Despite what they told us when they were selling us these contracts, materials-oriented research center. Mark Grimson mark.grimson@ttu.
the procedure to get service was much more complicated and time- edu Fri Apr 24
consuming, and we were given a much lower priority by the vendors You should start with some books from ASM (American Society
than their service contract holders were. You may have to justify of Materials). Two basic books would be Volume 9 of the ASM
service and parts before they will authorize it. Maybe we just had a Handbook, Metallography and Microstructures (LM of Metals) and
poor experience and things are better now, but the day we went back Volume 11 of the ASM Handbook Failure Analysis and Prevention
on vendor service contracts for our scopes was one of the happiest days (SEM). It depends on how extensive you want to be in your library.
of my life. Have you considered third-party service provider contracts? There are many other good books, but those are two good books to
Some people say they are very happy with these. I have no personal start with. Gerald Shulke gas19@chrysler.com Fri Apr 24
experience with them, however. Randy Tindall tindallr@missouri.edu TEM: Willilams & Carter, “Transmission Electron Microscopy”;
Thu Apr 16 new edition due this June. Reimer & Kohl, “Transmission Electron
I used one in a previous incarnation (job elsewhere). It was fine, Microscopy: Physics of Image Formation (Springer Series in Optical
saved money, got the microscope company to service. Then we had a big Sciences)”. SEM: Goldstein et al., “Scanning Electron Microscopy and
claim and a diagnostic procedure -- looking for stray magnetic fields. X-Ray Microanalysis” get the latest edition -- 3rd, I think. Reimer,
Suddenly the contract was worthless. The insurance company refused “Scanning Electron Microscopy: Physics of Image Formation and
to pay the claim (contrary to their salesman’s statements) because of Microanalysis (Springer Series in Optical Sciences” 1998). General:
the magnetic field survey. When I explained why the survey and what Sawyer & Grubb, “Polymer Microscopy” 3rd edition. What I have a
it was, they (supposedly) referred the claim to their engineers, who hard time finding is a reference on specimen preparation for materials
may be great on elevators and escalators, but know nothing of EMs, science. Be interesting to see if anyone posts such a book. Philip Oshel
who denied the claim. They had paid the microscope company, but oshel1pe@cmich.edu Fri Apr 24
they were trying to get me to reimburse them. I referred them to the I’m looking for a general sample prep book that discusses the
University lawyers (said University having several contracts with this “how to”, “why to”, and the wherefores of the various methods -- ion-
company for various equipment). I don’t know how it finally ended, milling, etching, tripod polishing, small-angle cleavage, etc. -- for a
2009 September • www.microscopy-today.com 69
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